Clipper Logistics has become one of the first logistics providers to remove the locked pay cycle and offer staff flexible pay, in a major new financial wellbeing initiative for its workforce. A new partnership with charity-backed financial wellbeing provider Wagestream will see a range of services rolled out to reduce employees’ financial stress, build financial resilience and improve their overall wellbeing.
Clipper is one of the leading providers of logistics solutions, e-fulfilment and returns management services – with over 9,000 team members across more than 50 distribution centres, working with trusted brands such as the John Lewis Partnership, ASOS M&S and Halfords. Clipper also recently became the first logistics organisation to be accredited by the Good Business Charter in 2020, which promotes the importance of responsible business practice – including best practice in supporting employee wellbeing.
As part of its broader ‘wellbeing at work’ programme, all Clipper colleagues will now have access to Wagestream – the charity-backed service which provides smart budgeting, savings and education through one app, built around a flexible pay cycle (also known as Earned Wage Access, or EWA).
Wagestream aims to reduce financial stress and improve the financial health of every worker. It is Europe’s fastest-growing financial wellbeing provider, part-owned by the UK’s leading financial charities and impact funds – including Joseph Rowntree Foundation, Big Society Capital, Social Tech Trust, Barrow Cadbury Trust and the Fair By Design Fund. Over half a million workers have access to Wagestream, through employers including Bupa, Co-op, Pizza Hut, Holiday Inn, Halfords, David Lloyd, Virgin Care and the NHS.
The new initiative means Clipper also becomes one of the first employers to offer flexible pay (EWA), since a landmark study revealed the positive impact it has on employee quality of life. EWA sees employers return to offering staff flexible access to wages already earned and owed, throughout the month. It replaces the extended, locked pay cycle concept, invented in the 1960s as banking infrastructure evolved and processing fees became expensive for employers and banking providers.
Findings in the recent study included:
- Stress decreases, for 77% of employees with flexible pay
- Financial confidence improves, with 72% feeling more in control
- Budgeting improves, for 55%; only 2% struggled to adjust
- Savings behaviours improve, and existing debt cycles begin to recede
- Workers prefer it: 89% say flexible pay is better than any alternative
- Quality of life increases for 72%, outperforming benchmarks on financial inclusion
Nicholas Beadle, HR Operations Director at Clipper Logistics, said:
Giving people a fair chance, and empowering them to fulfil their potential, has been core to our continued growth, at Clipper – from the various Clipper apprenticeship schemes, to our multi-award winning Fresh Start Programme.
That’s why we’re partnering with Wagestream and rolling out a financial wellbeing programme that’s backed by leading charities and proven by data to improve quality of life. We’re proud to be the first logistics organisation taking this step and hope to see our industry peers follow suit in the future.
Peter Briffett, CEO and co-founder at Wagestream, added:
Financial stress is an invisible, urgent problem for working adults: 8 in 10 bring financial stress with them to work, and more than half say it’s their employer’s responsibility to help.
Clipper is truly leading the way for the logistics sector, by tackling this with our carefully managed financial wellbeing programme and the guidance of our charity partners. The data now shows that employers doing this are not just modernising their pay cycle and ticking a box – they are changing lives for the better.